Improvement in portable burial-vaults



J OHITTOOK Porta ble Burial Vault. N0. 19s,s72.l

Patented Jan. 1, 1878.

WITNESSES ATTORNEY.

N, PEI'ERS, PHUYOMTHOGRAPHER. WASH UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES GHITTOGK, OF ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI.

IMPROVEMENT N PORTABLE BURlAL-VAULTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 198,S72,'dated January1, 1878; application filed February 10, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES CHiTTooK, of St. Joseph, in the county ofBuchanan and State of Missouri, have invented a new and valuableImprovement in Portable Burial- Vaults; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the constructionand operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings,making a. part of this specification, and to the letters and figures ofreference marked thereon.

Figure l of the drawings is a representation of a plan view of the bodypart of the vault. Fig. 2 is a view of the under side of the lid orcover, and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the body with the lidapplied.

My invention is in the nature of an improvement in so-called portabletombs or vaults, also applicable as coffins, which are made of plasticmaterial molded or cast to shape adapted to be hermetically sealed andcapable of resisting the decaying effects of moisture.

Before my invention, herein described, tombs or coffins of thisdescription have been made of cement molded into shape, the lid beingprovided with a groove or flange to fit over the edges of or into agroove, respectively, in the body, and the two united permanently in anair-tight manner by cement and bolts, or by cement simply.

I have found that the best and most permanent joint between the lid andbody of such vaults, tombs, or coffins, is formed by grooving the lid,and perforating said lid vertically, having the holes lead into saidgroove, and

forming a flange on the upper edge of the body of less width than thegroove, sothat when the lid is placed upon the body of the tomb, vault,or coffin, and cement in a plastic state poured into the holes, the saidcement will fill up the space in the groove between its sides and theflange, andwill also fill up the holes, whereby, when the cementhardens,

In carrying out my invention I cast or mold the body A and lid B of thetomb, vault, or

coffin in single pieces of plastic material.

ings, 0, into this groove are made in the lid.

An opening,c, is also made in the lid, so that the air may be exhaustedfrom the coffin or vault in sealing it hermetically. A plate of glassmay be inserted in an opening in the lid, so as to permit inspection ofthe contents of the coffin or vault.

In one end of the bodyA I raise a partition, which forms a chamber,.O,adapted to receive records, coins, &c., as mementoes or means of futureidentification, a provision whose utility I neednot further amplify.

The lid is sealed by placing it upon the body, so that its groove shallfit over the flange of the body, when plastic cement is poured in theholes 0, and fills the space .00 and the holes, and when hardened thesaid cement in the holes serves the purpose of bolts in securing thelid.

The cement used in sealing the lid and body is preferably of the samekind as that used in making the two, so as to have a homogeneousarticle.

Tombs, vaults, or coffins of this character are without seams, can bemade air-tight, and are impermeable.

What I claim is--' A coffin, vault, or tomb, made of plastic material,the lid andbody being united by a tongue-andgroove joint cementedtogether and re-enforced by said cement extending into and hardening inholes leading into the groove, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my namein the presence of two witnesses.

' 7 JAMES OHITTOCK.

Witnesses:

VINTON PIKE, ROBERT W. MUssER.

